Op-Ed: Should You See The Hobbit at 48 FPS?
I had the good fortune to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at the midnight premiere in 48 frames per second. So as a follow-up to Ari’s review of the 2D 24 frames per second version of the film, and to my post from earlier this year about the negative CinemaCon reaction the first screening of the footage, here is a … Read more
Op-Ed: Who Is The Master?
I have heard several different evaluations from my peers of Paul Thomas Anderson’s most recent film, The Master; from staunch support to outright dismissal, opinions certainly seem divided. But as someone who was not anticipating The Master with any great excitement, I came away pleasantly surprised. Because of this, I feel that I should illustrate … Read more
Op-Ed: Nausicaä of the Desert of the Real
This piece will examine both Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind and the Wachowski siblings’ The Matrix. Therefore, beware of spoilers. In 1984, one year before the founding of the legendary Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki’s first major directorial effort was released. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind is widely considered one of … Read more
Op-Ed: A New Hope for Genre Designation
Since 1977, there has been an epic battle raging between two of the biggest franchises in popular culture. Fans of Star Trek fans and Star Wars have been at each other’s throats for years, periodically culminating in films like Kyle Newman’s farcical road trip flick Fanboys, but I have never understood why; from what I can tell, the only thing the … Read more
Op-Ed: The Midlife Crisis of 1999
If you ask someone what American Beauty, Fight Club, The Matrix, Office Space, The Boondock Saints, and Being John Malkovich have in common, they’ll probably either say they have no idea, or they’ll stare at you for a moment before walking off in a daze. Given some time to think, though, it becomes clear that … Read more
Op-Ed: Understanding Take Shelter
I really liked Take Shelter. As a drama it succeeded in building an emotional bridge between the audience and its characters, and as a thriller it kept the audience guessing about the sanity of its protagonist. The ending of Take Shelter is also well-crafted and multilayered, and is deftly executed by writer/director Jeff Nichols. However, this complexity also leads us … Read more
Op-Ed: Revisiting Superman Returns
It was supposed to be a spectacular film. After a 19-year hiatus, Superman was making his triumphant return to the big screen for a new generation. Warner Brothers had given the project a 300-million-dollar budget, and Bryan Singer, riding a wave of adoration for his brilliant handling of X-Men 2, was directing. Not being a … Read more
Op-Ed: Finding Nemo Is the Saddest Story Ever
When Finding Nemo was released in 2003, a ten-year-old version of me thought it was a wonderfully funny little film. Even back then I was always looking for things to complain about and I remember telling my mother that the movie had suffered because trailers had spoiled many of the best gags. However, I know … Read more
Op-Ed: This Guy is Awesome
I love it when nerds do something creative with their time. So about a week ago, after seeing The Avengers, I found this awesome little clip online of some serious Iron Man cosplaying: It was brought to my attention that the guy who created the costume has in fact worked on recreating many of the other … Read more
Op-Ed: Superheroes Are Not In Decline
One of Roger Ebert’s “Far Flung Correspondents,” Michael Mirasol, recently wrote an article entitled The rise and decline of the superhero. It’s a very interesting and well-written piece, and even includes a video essay to accompany the text. However, I cannot say that my views totally gel with Mr. Mirasol’s assessments. I think it’s always … Read more
